Who Are You Beyond Your Roles? Understanding Asmitā

Who are you when you set aside your job, your relationships, your achievements, and the many labels you carry? In this talk, we explore Asmitā, the second of the five Kleshas described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Often translated as ego or ego identity, Asmitā is the tendency to mistake our thoughts, roles, emotions, and personal stories for our true identity.

Through relatable stories, everyday examples, and timeless yogic wisdom, you'll discover how identification quietly shapes the way we experience ourselves and the world. Rather than asking you to reject your personality or responsibilities, this session offers a gentle invitation to step back and recognize the quiet awareness that exists beneath every role you play.

Whether you're new to Yoga philosophy or have an established meditation practice, this talk offers practical insights that can help you cultivate greater freedom, self-awareness, and inner peace.

Transcript

Asmita, The second klesha. Asmita translates to ego. Let me begin with something simple. Have you ever watched a movie? And at some point, You've forgotten that you're watching a movie. You go completely inside it. You get completely immersed in it. Your body reacts, Your emotions rise, Your mind gets pulled into the story. And for the while, You're not just watching the character. You are the character. And then something happens, Maybe someone speaks or maybe your attention shifts or maybe someone's phone rings. And suddenly you remember that, Oh, I'm sitting here, I'm just sitting here, I'm watching this. Nothing about the movie changed. But something in you stepped back, Something in you stepped away from the movie. In yoga, This forgetting. This becoming the character. This is called Asmita and this shows up in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Specifically in Chapter 2, Sutra 3. Where he says, अविद्या अस्मित्ता रागा द्वेशा अभीनिवेशा कलेशा And these are the five glaciers, The root causes of suffering. And he goes further to say that The seal. That is the one who sees. And the instrument of seeing, How we are seeing, We mistake it to be one. Now let's break this down. Let's make it more the year. There is awareness. And then, There are thoughts, There are emotions, There are roles and there are experiences. In yoga, Awareness is the drashta, The seer, The one who sees. But in Asmita. The awareness forgets itself and says, I am this. And this is where yoga meets psychology in a very powerful way. Because our identity is not something that we are born with fully formed. It's something that we build. Through experience, Through repetition, Through memory. At some point as a child you may have heard, You're not good at this or you're the responsible one. Or you're the quiet one. And slowly these descriptions that we have heard, They become identities. We tell ourselves that we are not good at this or we are irresponsible or that we are quiet, We are introverts. So instead of saying, I feel anxious right now. What happens is, We say I am an anxious person. We identify ourselves with that emotion. Instead of saying I made a mistake. We say I am a failure. Instead of saying this role is something I play. We say this is who I am. And here's the subtle shift. When something is an experience, It can move. But when something becomes identity, It gets fixed. And one's identity is formed. We begin to protect it. If you believe. I am successful. Than anything that challenges that. Feels threatening. If you believe I am not confident, Then even opportunities feel unsafe. So now. . . You are not just living your life. You're defending an identity. Hospita is not the presence of identity. It is the fusion with it. And the challenge, The challenge is that most of this is unconscious. We don't question the voice in our head. We don't question the labels. We don't question the I am. Because it feels so real. But just like the movie. It feels real. Until you step back. In yoga. The invitation is not to remove identity. Because that would not be practical. We still play those. We will still play those. We will still think, Feel, Act. The invitation in Yoga is to remember that you are not limited to them. You are the one who is aware of them. You are the one who is aware of these roles, Aware of these thoughts, Aware of these emotions. So die now. Right now. If you notice a thought, You can see it. Which means you are not it. If you notice an emotion You can feel it. Which means that emotion is being experienced, It is not who you are. So when we practice yoga, We are not trying to remove the I. We are not trying to remove ego or remove the identity. We are gently loosening it. We are creating space between the seal and what it sees. So that once again You can live your life. You can play your roles. You can feel your emotions, You can think your thoughts. Without being trapped inside of them. So as we move into practice Allow yourself to step back, Just a little. Pause and begin to notice. Who is aware of all of this? Thank you for listening.